Four small tournaments unfolded on European indoor hard courts this week, one of them a joint event in Moscow.  With the exception of the women’s draw there, from which Angelique Kerber withdrew, each field contained a clear title favorite in its top seed.  David Ferrer, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, and Richard Gasquet headlined each of the three ATP tournaments, while Caroline Wozniacki spearheaded the International event in Luxembourg. 

With no other top-10 players to halt them at any of those tournaments, how did that quartet fare?  This edition of Studs and Duds starts with them.

Studs:

Top seeds:  Two of those four title favorites delivered this week, capturing titles in Luxembourg and Moscow.  Not since 2007 had Caroline Wozniacki ended a season without winning a tournament, yet she entered this week with just one chance left in 2013.  The former No. 1 needed to conquer a chronic nemesis of hers, Bojana Jovanovski, who posed her sternest test of the week.  With that three-setter behind her, Wozniacki reeled off two more convincing victories to book a berth in Sofia’s Tournament of Champions for the second straight year.  (That event highlights the six highest-ranked women who won International events this year.) 

Vaulting into the eighth spot in the ATP Race to the World Tour Finals, Richard Gasquet made heavier weather of the Moscow draw than one might have expected.  The US Open semifinalist dropped sets to two unseeded opponents before tying his career high for titles in a single season with three.  Three of Gasquet’s last four titles have come on indoor hard courts, surprising for a reactive player who prefers to play well behind the baseline and lacks an overwhelming serve. 

While David Ferrer fell a set short of the title in Stockholm, his week offered a ray of hope.  A runner-up result there marked Ferrer’s first trip to the semifinal or better at any tournament since reaching the Roland Garros final.  That slump had shaken his confidence, but two comebacks from losing the first set to explosive servers should have reassured him that his resilience still wins plenty of matches.

Much less impressive than the other top seeds was Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.  The French crowd favorite nearly fell to an anonymous Austrian wildcard in Vienna.  Having escaped that looming debacle, Tsonga could not escape Robin Haase in a semifinal that struck a blow to his waning London hopes.   

Simona Halep:  No woman in the top 10 other than world No. 1 Serena Williams has won five or more titles in 2013.  But a woman never inside that group now has.  After she won two titles on clay, one on grass, and one on outdoor hard courts this summer, Halep added the Moscow title on an indoor hard court to that group.  Her torrid form at non-majors in the second half thus has encompassed all four of the sport’s main surfaces.  Halep lost only seven games en route to the Moscow final, where she cruised past Samantha Stosur in straight sets.  That victory marked her 36th in 38 matches at non-majors against opponents not named Williams.

ATP one-handed backhands:  A first career title came in style for Grigor Dimitrov, who had lost in the first round of three straight tournaments entering Stockholm.  Hinting at improved fitness and focus,   Dimitrov came from behind in both the semifinal and final against fellow rising star Benoit Paire and then the heavily favored Ferrer.  The 35-year-old Tommy Haas also showcased his endurance in Vienna, winning three-setters on the last two days of the tournament.  Haas won multiple titles in a season for the first time in 2006, once again playing his best tennis close to home.  As with Dimitrov, the indoor hard courts rewarded the quality of his shot-making while masking his shortcomings in movement.

Former US Open women’s champions:  A runner-up in Moscow for the second straight year, Samantha Stosur reached finals at consecutive tournaments for just the second time in her career.  Few would have expected such a capstone to a disappointing season for a player who recently fired her long-term coach.  Stosur defeated two other major champions in Ana Ivanovic and Svetlana Kuznetsova, the latter of whom partnered her to the Moscow doubles title.  And Kuznetsova deserves applause in singles as well, reaching the semifinals of her home tournament after upsetting second seed Roberta Vinci.  

Unseeded Russian women:   Moscow third seed Maria Kirilenko has slumped in the second half, failing to reach a quarterfinal since the grass season.  Still, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova entered Moscow after losing her last three matches, all after winning the first set.  Her confidence must have simmered at a low ebb, so a trip home gave her just what the doctor ordered.  Having crushed French prodigy Caroline Garcia, Pavlyuchenkova dominated Kirilenko en route to her sixth semifinal of 2013. 

Even casual fans probably know the story of Alisa Kleybanova, once a dangerous ball-striker who left the game to overcome Hodgkin’s lymphoma.  At her home tournament, Kleybanova delivered her best win since her return by dismissing Carla Suarez Navarro in straight sets. 

Mikhail Kukushkin:  Nobody has won more matches at any tournament this year than Kukushkin, a Kazakh qualifier in Moscow.  Three victories in the qualifying draw and four in the main draw, including two upsets over seeded opponents, brought him to the verge of his first title in three years.  Facing long odds against Gasquet in the final, Kukushkin still competed with courage as he extended his top-10 opponent to a third set.

German women in Luxembourg:  The tiny Grand Duchy wedged between France and Germany must have felt like a home away from home for two women from the latter nation.  One of Germany’s newest talents, the 19-year-old Annika Beck, contested the first final of her career on these indoor courts.  Meanwhile, Wimbledon runner-up Sabine Lisicki recorded her best result since that breakthrough with a semifinal run, albeit not against elite competition. 

Ernests Gulbis:  Even when he loses, Gulbis generally makes marquee opponents sweat.  In addition to upsetting Andy Murray this summer, he has won sets from Rafael Nadal (twice), Tomas Berdych, Milos Raonic, and now David Ferrer.  Gulbis extended the world No. 4 to a final set in Stockholm this week as he built upon a victory against a similar dark horse, Wimbledon semifinalist Jerzy Janowicz. 

Stefanie Voegele:  This Swiss journeywoman inflicted consecutive losses on Sloane Stephens in her last two tournaments, reaching the semifinals at both of them.  Before that Linz/Luxembourg surge, Voegele had lost eight of her previous nine matches.  Perhaps, like Haas, she simply plays better near home.

Ivo Karlovic:  In Moscow, Dr. Ivo did something that he often does and something that he never has done before.  The former:  a third-set tiebreak won against Denis Istomin.  The latter:  a bagel.  Yes, Karlovic never had recorded a bagel in his career until he inflicted that indignity on 17-year-old Russian wildcard Karen Khachanov, who never had played at the ATP level until last month. 

Duds:

Janko Tipsarevic:  Late in the summer, the Serbian No. 2 stirred from a season-long slumber that had seen his ranking dip outside the top 25.  Tipsarevic won the decisive fifth rubber in a Davis Cup semifinal after finding his way to the second week of the US Open.  Unfortunately for Serbian fans, those encouraging results have not turned around his season.  Tipsarevic has lost four of five matches since that Davis Cup victory, including a second-round exit as the third seed in Moscow, a tournament that he won just two years ago.  That loss dropped his record to 20-23 in 2013 after consecutive 53-win seasons.  His conqueror, the 17-year-old Karen Khachanov, had played exactly two ATP matches before this week. 

Belgian women:  A Polish qualifier named Katarzyna Piter had won four WTA main-draw matches over the last four years.  Then she knocked off Wimbledon semifinalist Kirsten Flipkens and former US Open semifinalist Yanina Wickmayer in succession.  Not a proud week for the nation that produced Justine Henin and Kim Clijsters. 

Men’s fourth seeds:  In all three ATP tournaments this week, the fourth seed exited on Thursday, two days ahead of their projected destination in the semifinals.  Adding insult to injury, two of them (Alexandr Dolgopolov in Moscow, Philipp Kohlschreiber in Vienna) fell to qualifiers.  The triple thud testified to the unpredictability of the fall as well as the meager quality of the events.  Neither Dolgopolov, Kohlschreiber, nor Stockholm fourth seed Kevin Anderson  have found the consistency associated with high seeds in more elite fields.

Joao Sousa:  The clock struck midnight for this Cinderella of the fall, who had won seven of his last eight matches while winning his first career title in Kuala Lumpur.  Two weeks removed from that accomplishment, Sousa received a seed in Moscow.  He could not convert the chance, falling in a straight-sets opener at Sergiy Stakhovsky.  At least the Portuguese No. 1 now shares something in common with Roger Federer.

Lucie Safarova:  This streaky lefty had blistered through elite fields in Tokyo and Beijing, reaching quarterfinals at both tournaments.  Like Sousa, Safarova returned to reality with a thud when she returned to Europe.  The teenaged Annika Beck, mentioned above, swept her out of Luxembourg in a three-set rollercoaster.

Canadians:  A strong run through Asia, including a title on an indoor hard court, primed Milos Raonic for a success on similar surfaces in Europe.  With an outside chance at a berth in the World Tour Finals, he fell to the mercurial Benoit Paire in a Stockholm quarterfinal.  On the other hand, Raonic handled the task of stifling home favorite and heavy server Joachim Johansson with poise, never allowing the dangerous Swede a break point.

For the second straight match, Eugenie Bouchard lost in three sets a match that she could have won in two.  Bouchard had led Samantha Stosur by a set in the Osaka final, only to fade late in the second.  She then cruised through the first set against Andrea Petkovic in Luxembourg and had chances to close out the German in the second.  Again falling short at that stage, Bouchard let the third set slip away easily.  Growing pains like these letdowns should offer good learning experiences for the future star.